Harry Potter and the Crepuscular Crown
by Darkrayn
Summary: The Battle for Hogwarts is over and Voldemort is gone. However for eighteen year old Harry Potter a new adventure is about to begin as he enters into the quaternary period of his life. Will Harry, Ron and Hermione survive life in college?
1. Chapter 1: Tabula Rosa

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or trademarked characters.

Chapter 1:

Tabula Rosa

It had been just over four months since the Battle of Hogwarts and Harry and Hermione now sat in the great hall of Grindelwald Castle. Harry's normally long hair had been cut short in order to prevent it from becoming too messy. The lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead was now but a faint shadow of what it had once been, and although Harry suspected it would never go away entirely, he found himself somewhat sorry to see it fade, as he had grown accustomed to it. To his side sat an eighteen almost nineteen year old Hermione. Hermione's normally bushy brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, all except for two bangs that dropped in front of her face like strings, concealing her brown eyes whenever she looked down.

Harry and Hermione stared out at the large stone chamber of the great hall. The scene before them of people standing on tables, performing weird spells and playing odd wizarding games reminded Harry of the first time he'd stepped foot into Hogwarts.

"Potter?"

A familiar voice called from nearby. Harry looked up to see Malfoy had taken the seat across from him. "I was wondering when some students from Hogwarts were going to show up here. Its good to see that the right sort do get into this school, even if it is you and Granger. Before you showed up the only people I saw were Daphne Greengrass and that oaf Longbottom."

"Malfoy." Harry winced.

Draco Malfoy had been Harry's rival since the day they first met. Draco had been on the side of Death Eaters during the events at Hogwarts the previous year due to Voldemort personally threatening to end end his family's lives. For the most part, the Ministry under the leadership of Kinglsy Shacklebolt had adopted a zero tolerance policy for Death Eaters, particularly in the cases of Death Eater's who attacked the school directly. Although most Death Eaters were now locked safely away in Azkaban. Narcissa and Draco Malfoy were granted pardons in light of their instrumentalwork in ending the Dark Lord's reign. The toll that it had taken on Draco however was obvious. Draco's normally straight and clean look was gone, replaced by slightly messy hair and a not so clean shave. His eyes seemed to hold in them regret and he appeared to Harry much older than he had only a year ago. Malfoy pretended not to notice the greeting as he stared towards the podium at the end of the hall.

"You know, it seems weird being here, after last year and all..." Malfoy began.

"Yeah." Harry replied. There wasn't much else that needed to be said. As startling as the changes in Malfoy were, it was easy to understand their source. The Battle of Hogwarts had taken casualties from both sides, and Draco perhaps even more than Harry had been forced to do things that in retrospect seemed unforgivable. As participants in that battle Harry and Malfoy understood each other now in a way that had been impossible before.

"Well. I guess I'll be seeing you around then." Malfoy said, as he rose from the table and began to walk away.

"That was bizarre." Hermione whispered, once Malfoy was out of earshot.

"Yeah, it was." Harry replied.

"I almost think he was trying to be nice." Hermione said, a look of confusion on her face.

"Seems that way..." Harry replied absentmindedly, taking one final glance at Malfoy to be sure he hadn't imagined it all.. 

Ron sat down next to Harry and Hermione with a bewildered look on his face. "Was that Malfoy just now?" He asked confused. "What did that git want?"

Ron had grown even taller over that summer. Harry couldn't figure out exactly how tall Ron was, but he was beginning to suspect that Ron's family might be related to Hagrid's somewhere along the way. Ron's freckles were beginning to fade as he progressed further into adulthood. Over the summer Ron had let his hair grow out, and he now wore it shoulder length. Harry sometimes wondered if this were some sort of homage to his brother Fred. Harry also wondered how Ron was taking the loss of Fred. Though the funeral had been over three months ago, the wound must still be fresh, and Ron's recent cavalier attitude concerned Harry. However all of Harry's worry and curiosity could not overcome his desire to leave those painful memories at rest and so he didn't dare ask Ron about it.

"I dunno..." Began Harry, "I think he was trying to say hi." Harry suspected that Malfoy had wanted to say more. Perhaps Malfoy was in some way trying to make some sort of an amend, perhaps he'd wanted to apologize but couldn't bring himself to do it. Maybe he was just trying to be pleasant. It was a pleasant change from the bully that he had known for seven years. But considering the price of this change, Harry wondered if it was at all worth it.

"Ronald Weasley where have you been all this time!?" Hermione asked giving Ron a reproachful look thenhitting him on the shoulder.

"Ouch! What did you do that for? I was just outside playing a game of Quidditch with some of the students, it's not like I'm late."

Hermione's face turned red with anger and she crossed her arms.

"Always Quidditch with you. Well I'm your girlfriend, shouldn't that matter?" Hermione interrogated.

"Well it matters yeah, but I did get into this school on a Quidditch Scholarship Hermione I should at least meet the competition." Ron pleaded.

"Harry's going to be playing Quidditch too but he was in here."

"Aw don't be mad Hermione, I'm sorry." Ron's hands were crossed in front of his face like he was praying, "I'm here now aren't I?"

"Well now it's too late!" Hermione shouted and she stood up and walked off.

Ron watched her until she was out of earshot and then he turned to Harry.

"Bloody hell mate, she's always getting on to me about something, she's gone absolutely bonkers since we started going out." Ron whispered. "She's always like, 'Ron do this with me, Ron do that with me, Ron go to this Muggle Movie Theatre with me." Ron imitated her voice and waived his finger at Harry like he was impersonating a school teacher. Harry couldn't help but laugh.

"I mean really its quite bothersome." Ron mumbled looking around to make sure Hermione was nowhere nearby.

After a moment Ron's expression changed. "So how are things going between you and Ginny?" He asked, a slightly concerned look on his face.

Harry looked down. Ginny hadn't exactly been happy with his decision to go to Grindelwald, after all it was a few hundred miles away from Hogwarts, and they would not be able to see each other except on Christmas. Harry looked at Ron and shrugged, "I'm not exactly sure. She was pretty mad when I left."

Ron leaned in. "She sent me a letter."

Harry's eyes widened. It was not a good sign when his girlfriend was sending her brother letters instead of him, was Ginny breaking up with him through Ron? "What did it say? Is she still mad at me?" He asked.

"It said..." Ron motioned for Harry to lean in.Anticipation and worry growing, Harry did so... it must be pretty serious if Ron wouldn't even say it out loud. A moment later Ron's fist caught him on the top of the head and Harry yelped as he jumped back. "That I'm supposed to slug you one time for her and keep you away from all the trashy Grindelwald girls."

Harry rubbed his head for a second. "Couldn't you have just left out the part about hitting me?" He asked acting annoyed. Inside however Harry was ecstatic, she'd cared enough to tell Ron to keep him out of trouble which was good news.

Harry remembered the previous night and how angry she'd been.

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"Harry James Potter!" Ginny yelled at Harry as he ducked under a book that she threw at him.

"What did I do?" Harry asked dodging as the Monster Book of Monsters flew towards his face.

"Don't you what me? I'm still angry at you for deciding to go to that stupid college next year and you tried to unbutton my shirt!" She nearly shrieked at him.

"But you were! We were! I thought it was fine!"

"Don't fine me!" She shouted her face turning red as she hurled a clay vase at him.

Harry's eyes grew wide as he dodged out of the way of the vase. He winced as it shattered on the floor behind him.

"If that's all you're interested in, why don't you get one of your college girlfriends to give it to you!?" Ginny shouted. Harry took cover behind Ginny's bed. He pulled his wand out quickly and stuck his head above the bed just long enough to aim it at the vase.

"Reparo!" He shouted, and the vase on the ground quickly began to repair itself. Harry's eyes went wide as he noticed one of Fred and George's Stupendous Stupefy Stunners fly past his head. Harry leaped over the bed and rolled towards the door barely escaping the explosion.

"Did you just throw a bomb at me!?" Harry asked confused and a little hurt.

"Well I would've cast something much worse but I'm still underage!" She shouted at him throwing yet another book.

"You're psychotic!" Harry shouted hiding behind the wall.

Ginny's face was now blood red, and her fiery red hair reminded Harry quite a bit more of fire than usual. She stomped her feet on the ground. "Get out get out get out!" She shouted at him, but Harry, who had been afraid of something else being thrown at him, had already fled into Ron's room.

Ron and Hermione who'd been snogging on his bed froze and looked at Harry as he ran in panting.

"What the bloody hell are you doing barging in here mate?" Ron asked as his face began to turn red.

"Your sister is out of her mind Ron! She threw a vase at me, and one of George's stun bombs!" Harry replied.

"Aw Harry. She's just upset that you're leaving tomorrow and she won't be able to see you again. She thinks you're choosing Grindelwald over her. You should apologize and explain the situation." Hermione said, trying to add a feminine viewpoint.

"I tried that and thought we were fine, one minute we're snogging in her room, the next she's throwing the Monster Book of Monsters at me."

"She didn't." Ron looked shock.

"She did." Harry replied, his eyes going wide.

"Well you're just going to have to be the mature one Harry." Hermione said.

"And could you please do it somewhere else?" Ron asked, a pleading look on his face.

Harry couldn't believe it. His two best friends were abandoning him to make out. He looked at Ron, his eyes begging for sanctuary.

"Seriously", Ron stated, "You can't stay in here."

Harry winced and backed out of the door. The scene seemed to have calmed down. He turned the corner and glanced into Ginny's room. Ginny was sitting on her bed with her face buried in her hands crying. Mrs. Weasley was beside her patting her on the back.

"There there, it'll be okay." Mrs. Weasley consoled Ginny, trying to abate her tears.

"But I don't want him to go. I won't be able to see him all year, and what if he meets some older woman that he likes more than me? I'd just die if he broke up with me for some college bimbo." Ginny whimpered.

Harry leaned up against the wall outside Ginny's room and lowered his head. He wished she would understand that he wasn't doing this to get away from her. Its just that Grindelwald was supposed to be the best school in the world at producing capable aurors, and he, Harry Potter, had gotten in. Of course after defeating Voldemort he'd been all but guaranteed a spot at any school along with Ron, Hermione, Neville. Kingsley Shacklebolt had offered this oppurtunity to all of the wizards that fought against Voldemort. Even so, Harry wanted to be the best, and to achieve that goal,he felt he needed to learn from the best wizarding instructors in the world.

Harry was about to turn and let Mrs. Weasley handle the situation when something smacked against his leg knocking him over. Harry looked down to find himself being attacked by the Monster Book of Monsters. He rolled over and stroked its spine the way Hagrid had shown him in his third year and the book fell limp. Harry looked up to notice a wide eyed Ginny and Molly Weasley staring down at him.

Harry got to his feet quickly and shoved the book behind his back as Mrs. Weasley began to rise from her seat.

"I'll let you two talk." She said, and a moment later she was gone, leaving Harry and Ginny alone.

"I'll be back Christmas." Harry broke the silence after what seemed like an eternity. "And I'll write."

Ginny jumped up from where she'd been sitting and threw her arms around him. "Promise you won't fall in love with someone else?" She asked burying her head into his chest.

Harry almost laughed at the notion. "I promise." He said embracing her back. For a while they just stood there, Ginny crying and Harry wondering what he would do at school without her.

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"Harry... Harry."

"Wha... what?" Harry snapped out of his confusion to see Hermione had returned and was now gawking at him.

"The ceremony is starting!"

An old man man stepped up to the podium that Harry had seen upon entering. The man had long silvery gray hair that appeared almost white in the glow of the braziers that illuminated the room, and a sharp pointed nose that reminded Harry slightly of Draco's. The man was relatively skinny and appeared almost helpless standing atop the podium. However the friendliness that Harry saw in his face, that unmistakable look of kindness reminded him fondly of Albus Dumbledore.

"Hello everyone, and welcome back to another year at Grindelwald's Institute of Advanced Wizardry. I am the Headmaster of this institute Dorodia Oakley. You have all come here to further your learning as Witches and Wizards in preparation for the most difficult jobs in the wizarding world and a brave choice you have made. For in this school we can teach those who are dedicated the true mysteries of the world of magic. Those who have the drive will learn to have a power and understanding of magic far beyond those who have only attended basic wizarding schools. However those who lack determination and the will to succeed, will undoubtedly find the rigorous schedule, difficult tasks and change in lifestyle impossible. But do not lose heart, for we are all here now, so enjoy the festivities as a new year at Grindelwald begins!"

Harry looked around the room to see that candle lights were beginning to dim. A moment later an entourage of Veela danced into the room from behind the podium. Harry became entranced as they danced through the room performing majestic spins and twirls, taking students up onto the tables and dancing with them momentarily before moving on. The torches along the walls all burst into brilliant flames at once, and the Veelas'dance was made even more hypnotic when they began to dance in the firelight. Harry didn't want the dance to end, and he was upset when the girls danced their way out of the room. He didn't have long to dwell however, as a flash of firelight sparked in front of where he, Ron and Hermione were sitting. A house elf had appeared on the table in front of them and almost immediately he began juggling fire and performing a show of lights.

The house elf danced around and conjured wonderful treats. Harry looked behind the elf and noticed a tray of foods, which before long the house elf began to cook in front of them, as if they were at an extremely fancy restaurant. Wizard food, muggle food, sweets, entrees and delicious drinks from all over the world were placed in front of the three wizards, and Harry got the feeling that the table was enchanted to make the food easier to grab. It seemed foods he didn't even remember the House elf cooking were at arm's reach. The wondrous banquet was truly a sight to behold, and Harry felt eleven years old again as he watched the little elves go about their business.

After the feast Harry, Ron and Hermione walked back to the student dormitories. It was getting late and so after a brief moment of conversation which Harry barely cared to remember, they parted ways. Harry and Ron went to the male dormitories while Hermione headed in the opposite direction.

"So what do you think mate?" Ron asked as he and Harry entered the small two-bed dorm that Harry had purchased for them.

"I think its going to be an interesting year." Harry remarked as he took off his clothes and jumped into one of the beds.

"Did you see those Veela and the show that the House Elves put on? I mean if this is how they treat us on the first day, just imagine the parties!" Ron said excitedly as he got into his own bed. "I mean just imagine mate."

Harry looked over at Ron who wore on his face the very same smile felt spreading across his own as he thought about the excitement of the new year and all the possibilities that lay before him.

"I think its going to be an interesting year." He said again.


	2. Chapter 2: Legendary Spells and Curses

I would like to think my editor for protecting me from the dreaded 'lounged chairs' that would otherwise threaten to dominate my writing... Seriously though my editor is awesome.

Chapter 2:

Legendary Spells and Curses

Harry and Hermione walked down the corridor towards their first class. Harry carried a slip of paper in his hand and Hermione carried a map scrawled upon yellow cloth like parchment. Together they looked completely bewildered as they found themselves being pushed aside and interrupted by gaggles of students rushing towards their own first class of the year at full speed.

Harry couldn't help but let loose a huge yawn as Hermione finally pushed her way towards him through the crowd. His short hair was slightly ruffled as he tried to force himself into an awakened state. Harry had been extremely disappointed when he'd woken up that morning to find that Ron hadn't signed up for Legendary Spells and Curses as he had instead opted for History of Wizard Athletics. Harry looked over at Hermione who, except for the light circles under her eyes, looked as though she'd been up preparing for her first class for hours. Her bushy brown hair was brushed almost straight except for a light curling at the end, and whether she smelled like some sort of flower or something else, Harry couldn't be sure. She appeared to be taking the whole first day ordeal very seriously.

"So according to this," Hermione said as she examined the map for what must have been the hundredth time, "the classroom should be right here." Harry and Hermione looked around the corridor and saw no sign of the classroom shown on the map. "I don't know how we could have gotten lost, it was pretty much a straight shot ever since we made that right at the ogre statue. Or was it a left?" She seemed to be trying to turn the map to make it fit her sense of direction. At the moment it was upside down. Harry almost fell over as he saw a student pass through the wall immediately to his right. "Maybe it was a left..." Hermione began.

"Um Hermione." Harry began.

"Hold on a minute Harry, I'm trying to figure this out." She said ignoring him.

Harry pushed the map down and pointed at the wall beside a painting of some old wizard Harry was unfamiliar with. Hermione followed his finger just in time to see a student pass through the wall.

"I think we're here." Harry said looking at her with an exhausted gaze.

Hermione's eyes widened as she saw a few more students head through the door.

"Yeah..." She said, seemingly disappointed that she hadn't been the first one to notice. "I suppose we are."

Harry and Hermione began to walk forward, passing through the wall as they'd seen other students do before them. It was a similar sensation to traveling through platform nine and three quarters, and Harry couldn't help suffer more nostalgia as he entered into the large classroom on the other side.

Once Harry had regained his bearings, he looked around at the Legendary Spells and Curses classroom. It was surprisingly large for a classroom, reminding Harry more of an auditorium than the smaller, more personal classrooms at Hogwarts. There were several levels spaced three feet apart leading down to a large stage. Black topped tables with average sized brown metal chairs were scattered about on each of these levels all the way down to the bottom, where an ornately decorated wooden desk sat covered with papers. Harry stared at the desk for a moment, its legs appeared to be centaurs standing upright with their front and hind legs joined together to make them appear taller and yet extremely thin.

Sitting in a comfortable looking lounge chair behind the desk was a wizard that Harry suspected was in his mid to late forties. He had graying hair that was cut short and spiked up in the front. On his face he wore tiny rectangular rimmed spectacles that rested on the end of his nose. However, this wizard wasn't dressed in the usual wizards robes Harry noticed. He wore no hat and carried no extravagant jewelry or markings. He sported only a white tunic and brown khaki pants. Harry suspected he could have passed for a muggle going to a job interview, except for the condition of his clothes. The professor's tunic was ruffled and the pants seemed to be slightly wrinkled, as though he had slept in them. He had a mug of some sort on the table in front of him and beside that, his wand. The professor's wand appeared to be little more than a piece of wood gnarled at the end and bearing etched markings on the sides.

Everywhere else in the room people were beginning to take their seats. Harry recognized one of them as Neville Longbottom.

Neville Longbottom was a wizard that Harry and Hermione had attended Hogwarts with as fellow Gryffindors. They'd met when they were still first years and had become good friends. Neville had always been considered a screw up by most classmates due to his inability to cast many spells and charms, but the secret of Neville's misfortune had been his wand, which had belonged to his father and therefore hadn't worked properly. "In their seventh year, Neville had been the one to take charge in their final showdown against Voldemort, even facing down the dark lord himself for a while. Harry noticed that Neville's physique had changed somewhat drastically over the course of the past few months, and although he was still shorter than Harry, he seemed to have grown a bit. He also had grown larger, yet this time with muscle instead of fat.

Harry also couldn't help but notice that Neville didn't appear to be outwardly nervous as he did in the past. Harry watched as Neville and an attractive blonde witch were having a conversation, seemingly about Neville's exploits due to the fervor in which Neville was swishing his wand hand. The witch gazed adoringly at Neville, and after a moment reluctantly took her gaze from Neville to take her seat.

"Hey Neville." Harry shouted as he and Hermione took the closest seats they could find to the door, at a square table in the second row from the back.

Neville turned and his face lit up as he laid eyes and Harry and Hermione. He lifted his hand and began to wave at them, and started to get up but was interrupted when the professor moved behind his desk and everyone turned to face the center of the room. The professor moved forward around the desk and promptly sat right on top of it. He was staring at a golden pocket watch that he held loosely in his right hand. In his left, there was a brown clipboard. After a moment passed he threw the pocket watch into the chair behind him like it was a piece of junk and glanced down at the brown clipboard.

"Allistair Ackley?" The professor looked up. began looking up. Harry noticed that he didn't use his spectacles as he scanned the room for an answer, he looked above them.

From the middle of the room a tall dark haired wizard answered.

"Spencer Brundage?" The professor began next.

"Present." The answer appeared bored. Harry turned to see yet another black haired wizard in the back corner of the room, his head was turned away from the center of the room. He was of average size and build and had medium length hair that was combed down. His hands were pale and Harry couldn't see his face.

"Alright. Kelsey... Diamco, Damico da... Kelsey?" The professor said and scanned the room once again. "Kelsey?" He asked again.

"It's D'Amico. She's, um, not here." Someone answered matter of factly. The reply came from just behind Harry, and he turned around to discover its source. Behind Harry sat an older boy who appeared a little older than Hermione. He had curly blonde hair which was cut medium length so that only the sides of his hair and his bangs displayed the curl. The wizard was close enough that Harry took notice of his eyes. They were Hazel and reminded Harry of his own. He was a little pale, and seemed, Harry thought, as though he didn't get quite enough sunlight. Harry noticed that the boy's face was curved inwards just slightly at an almost eerily perfect angle.

"Well where is she?" The professor asked, somewhat annoyed.

"She's, uh, sick. She's at Madame Peacock's, I think." The student answered as though he were trying to remember exactly what had happened.

"What is she sick with?" The professor asked, catching onto the student's act.

"Mono?" The boy shrugged, putting his hands out in a way that suggested that he had no idea.

"Hey Ryan, didn't you have mono last week?" Ackley asked turning around in his seat. The room laughed. The wizard behind Harry slouched back in his seat smirking slightly as he did.

"Oh well. Guess we'll just have to move on without her," The professor stated, showing no corcern. "Gordo Eaker? Did I say that right?" he asked.

"Yep." A skinny brown haired wizard sitting in front of Neville answered.

"Ryan Flowers." The professor asked next.

"Flowers..." Gordo snickered.

"Right here." The blonde wizard sitting behind Harry answered not seeming to take any notice of Gordo.

"Flowers..." The professor began. "Would that be the same Flowers that Rosa de la Fleur took as her maiden name when she moved to the Americas?"

"Yep." The wizard named Ryan still leaning back in his chair.

"Which would mean you are part Veela?"

"Sixteenth." Ryan said shrugging.

"And that would also mean you are related to Jace Deleran?"

Hermione leaned over and whispered to Harry excitedly. "Jace Deleran was one of the best Legilimens and Occlumens of all time. Some people even say he was better than Voldemort!"

"Great grandfather." Ryan answered, looking down at the table as he balanced himself in his chair by pushing against it with his foot.

"So did you inherit his gift for Occlumency or Legilimency?"

"Not really. I'm too emotional, can't you tell?" Ryan said leaning forward and smiling slightly as he did so.

"That's interesting... So your friend really is sick with mono, that isn't a fabricated memory?" The professor asked, hinting at his guilt.

Ryan shrugged. "Nope, I'm not really controlled enough to come up with something like that. Not too much going on up here." He pointed at his head as he finally fell over in his chair backwards.

This caused the class to laugh, and, Harry couldn't help but join in. Ryan got up slowly, the smile never leaving his face as he turned the chair around and sat in it backwards. The professor stared curiously at Ryan for a moment before finally shaking his head, a smile playing at his lips.

"Alright well, we'll continue then." The professor said, looking again at his clipboard.

"Ah! Here's a student I wanted to meet. Hermione Granger?" The professor asked, looking around curiously for the owner of the name.

"Here." Hermione said raising her hand and blushing slightly.

"So you are!" The professor nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Granger." The professor said bowing to her. Hermione's cheeks turned crimson.

"Alright, Neville Longbottom?" The professor asked. Several students snickered as Neville raised his hand.

"Right here sir."

"Almost as funny as Flowers." Gordo said aloud, snickering as he did.

Ryan leaned forward in his chair. "Yeah you're right, those would the be the second and third funniest names I've heard all day. The first one, get this, 'Guido the Taker'." Ryan's eyes narrowed on Gordo. "(Really) apparently some poor kid was called that at his old school.

Gordo stood up in his chair, a slight look of fear on his face. "How do you? How did you? I haven't told anyone..."

Ryan nodded at him as if he had expected just this. "You didn't what?" He asked.

Gordo glared at him and then sat down in his seat.

"Its okay Gui... I mean Gordo, I won't tell anyone, I promise." Ryan said in kind voice. Then he stopped leaning forward and turned back towards the professor. At this point the professor had a look of partial astonishment and excitement.

The professor continued to call out names for the next few minutes and students would reply with a simple "here" or "present", Gordo however didn't speak again. Finally, the professor came to the end of the list.

"Ah. You know Dasher and Dancer, and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen", the professor sang. "But do you recall... the most famous wizard of all?" He chuckled at his own song. "Harry Potter?" He called, looking down at the only student yet to answer.

Harry looked back at the professor slightly embarrassed by the song. "Here, sir." Harry replied.

Whispers broke out in the class as people began to chatter amongst themselves in amazement. Harry looked around the classroom trying not to blush.

"Such a celebrity at such a young age." The professor said looking at Harry. "And an accomplished wizard at that." He turned his head slightly as he said this.

Harry heard a loud bang from behind him and he turned around to see where the noise had come from. Ryan's chair was resting safely on the ground as the boy leaned forward in it elevated slightly by his hands. A look of shock, ecstasy and hunger was apparent on his face as he gazed at Harry. Harry looked for a moment at the boy and then turned slowly around... He couldn't help but dislike that look.

"Well. My name is Sedis Rickman. You may all call me Professor Rickman, or the Rick or anything that others might misconstrue as cool, I will accept nothing else." He said tossing the clipboard aside. "The class you are in now is Legendary Spells and Curse. It is a year long class centered around the rarest and most powerful spells to date, but then again you lot signed up for it so you don't need a professor sipping Irish Cream to tell you that." The professor spoke nonchalantly as he took a drink from the coffee mug. "Since most of the spells that we will be studying in this class are extremely dangerous or explicitly forbidden, we will not be using our wands very much as we will not actually be learning to perform them. However, since we will be learning to identify them, which can sometimes require a spell, you should always bring your wands to class, just in case. For the most part, we will not be using class time to practice magic."

The professor paused for a moment and looked around his desk. Grabbing a piece of parchment, he read over it before speaking again.

"Anyways, your first assignment in this class will be to write a four page paper on the spell that was used to conceal the entrance to this classroom." The professor tossed aside the parchment and clapped his hands together.

"And with that you're all dismissed." The professor said.

Students began to gather up their things and head for the exit. Hermione's face filled with disappointment. "But professor we've still got twenty more minutes." She said disappointely.

"And? You're dismissed. Go, get out of my sight! Go to a party, smooch your boyfriend. Smooch Potter, just shoo." The professor said waving his hands at her. Hermione stared in astonishment for a moment before gathering her things. Harry's own gaze was filled with a slight amazement. He couldn't help but like Professor Rickman. There was something about him… something familiar yet at the same time he was unlike any teacher that Harry had ever met. Professor Rickman was... cool.

Harry gathered his things and raised himself from the desk in front of him. He headed towards the exit but stopped as he saw Ryan blocking his exit.

"Harry Potter?" He asked holding out his hand. Harry looked down at it and although he didn't really want to, he took it as not to be rude.

"Ryan Flowers." The boy said. "Though you already knew that."

Harry nodded, wondering what was on the boy's mind.

"So listen..." Ryan began. "There's this dueling club that meets after school today in the Dragon Courtyard, well actually it meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but anyways the first meeting is today. You should come, I'm sure everyone would like to see the wizard who defeated Voldemort."

Harry was taken aback. Most wizards even now didn't dare speak Voldemort's name... but this guy, Ryan had spoken it without hesitation, and there was something else in the way he'd said, something that Harry thought was respect, either that or maybe... admiration? Harry looked at Ryan curiously for a moment. Standing up now, Harry suddenly realized that Ryan was almost half a foot shorter than he was. Harry who was considered tall, hadn't noticed the boy's height when they'd been in class. He'd seemed taller, scarier, but he was only about average height.

"Uh yeah, sure sounds good." Harry answered. After that Ryan looked at Hermione. "And you, you should come to, I've heard a few things about you as well. Even if you don't duel its always helpful to have such a beautiful face in the crowd." He said smirking slightly as he did so.

Hermione blushed slightly. "I have a boyfriend." She confessed, embarrassed.

"So?" Ryan said shrugging. He started backing up towards the wall behind him. "Boyfriends don't make you unattractive." He said as he passed through the wall and vanished from sight.

Harry turned to Hermione.

"Boyfriends don't make you unattractive," he mimicked, teasing her as she tried to hide her blushing.

"Oh shut up." She said pushing him aside. "Seriously. Is it the American accent?" Harry asked.

"I'm not talking to you." She said as she walked past him towards the exit wall.

"Hermione we could always use a beautiful face in the crowd!" He called after her just as she passed through the wall.

Harry shook his head in amusement as he also passed through the invisible entryway a moment later. When he arrived on the other side he found Hermione to already be a good distance ahead of him.

"Oh come on Hermione I was just kidding!" He called after her, but she didn't show any sign of having heard him. Harry glanced down at his schedule and then he remembered that Hermione still had the map. He started hurrying down the hallway to catch up. "Hey Hermione wait up! Seriously!" He shouted somewhat frantically as he ran after her.


	3. Chapter 3: Duel at Dragon Court

Sorry about the long delay, I had the best editor in the world but our college schedules didn't coincide well so I had to find someone else who was willing to do the edits for me. However I'm planning to post updates weekly at this point and Chapter 4 should be out soon enough.

Chapter 3:

Duel at Dragon Court

Harry was sitting in a dark room located in the dungeons of Grindlewald castle. Advanced potions had never felt so dreary to Harry as he looked around the room at all of the apparatuses strewn about. It was almost depressing how much this class reminded him of his old potions classroom at Hogwarts. There was just one problem, and Harry honestly could not believe it, but he missed Snape. But it wasn't just Snape, even Slughorn would've been an improvement to the boring, old witch that taught Advanced Potions at Grindlewald. Harry looked over in the corner and noticed the old crone had fallen asleep. She was a tiny witch, skinny and wrinkled with hair that had long ago gone completely gray. Her nose was long and crooked and she appeared so frail that Harry had gotten the uncomfortable feeling all class that every breath might be her last.

Harry looked up at the clock in the corner of the room as it ticked away the last seconds of class. When class ended Harry quickly grabbed his wand and books and turned to Ron as he rose from his seat.

"So that was my last class today. How 'bout you?" He asked as he walked towards the large wooden door that led out of the potions class and back into the dungeons.

Ron who had been staring at the old woman just a moment before turned to Harry. "You don't think she's dead do you mate?" He asked. "I mean, I can't really tell if she's breathing."

Harry looked at the witch for a moment and then shrugged. Ron broke out into a slight chuckle.

"Yeah that was my last class too... So what are your plans now?" Ron asked as he and Harry began to travel through the maze like dungeon back towards the commons.

"Well I've got a little bit of homework to do..." Harry said as he remembered the note in his pocket. "Hey Ron have you heard of a dueling club at this school?" Harry asked, reading the note he'd left himself.

"No. But it sound's like it'd be fun. Why were you thinking about joining one?" Ron asked reading the note over Harry's shoulder.

Harry considered for a moment. He hadn't really given much thought to extracurricular activities until this point. Sure he'd considered joining a Quidditch team once the season started up, and he heard that Grindlewald had six different teams that he could join, but a Dueling Club. Harry shrugged and he threw the note into the trash.

"I dunno. Some guy in Legendary Spells and Curses invited me to come. I told him I'd think about it." Harry said as he and Ron traveled down a long hallway heading towards the commons.

"Well, it sounds like fun." Ron said waving as he noticed Hermione waiting for them at the end of the hall.

"So Harry. I was doing a little research in my last class. Apparently Dumbledore started the Dueling Club when he went here." Hermione blurted out when they finally caught up to her.

Harry's eyes widened. "Dumbledore did?"

Hermione nodded her head as she handed Ron a large book.

"Yeah. And it's been going on all this time. But the guy whose in charge now, Tyler Sowards reorganized it a few years back and met with some of the other schools. Apparently there's a professional dueling league that starts in January and Tyler arranged it so that Grindlewald and a few other schools were able to make teams and participate."

"That's pretty cool. I guess." Harry said.

"Yes, but only ten people from each school can participate. Apparently there's some ranking system that Tyler uses and he personally selects the members. At least that's what some of the other students were saying." Hermione explained.

"So if we all joined and were able to do well we could get selected for the PDL!" Ron shouted excitedly.

Harry looked at Ron.

"Look Harry, the PDL is like the coolest sports event aside from Quidditch. I heard some duelists get paid tons just to participate in matches, and the winning team, well lets just say there are no misers in the PDL!"

Harry stared at Ron's excited expression. The young Weasley could barely contain his enthusiasm.

"But Ron what makes you think we'll get chosen. We're freshman, we don't know anyone." Harry wondered.

"Yeah but everyone knows us don't they mate. We're the ones who stood up to You-Know-Who last year. I mean, if we can fight off Death Eaters."

Harry couldn't help but agree. They had after all fought off Voldemort's army of Death Eaters only four months earlier, and Harry had always been told he was a great duelist. He'd even led a group of rebel students known as Dumbledore's Army into the ministry in his fifth year, and in his sixth and seventh year he'd personally trained the DA to fight against witches and wizards wielding far darker magics than a group of students.

"Alright lets do it." Harry agreed.

"Yes we're going to do it!" Ron shouted gleefully, dancing as he heard this. He turned to Hermione who'd been silent since she'd finished explaining the club. "Right Hermione?"

"What? Oh yeah... I mean I guess. Sure sounds fun." She said biting her lip as though she were contemplating something. "But maybe we..."

"Lets go!" Ron shouted pointing towards the Great Hall with excitement and running ahead of the other two. Upon reaching the door he stopped however and turned back as Harry and Hermione began to walk towards him.

"Um... where are we going exactly?" Ron asked, the confidence in his face turning to confusion.

"Oh my gosh Ron sometimes you're like a little kid." She said grabbing his ear and pulling as she walked past.

Harry turned around to look at Ron as they walked. "That guy Ryan said they meet in the courtyard after lunch. So I guess after we grab something to eat we should head there."

The cafeteria was large. It was located outside the great hall and mainly consisted of several isolated stands that represented everything from the magical to the mundane, from Honeydukes to Taco Bell. Any sort of food magical or otherwise could be purchased from the various attendants, which tended to be worked by young wizards trying to work their way through Grindlewald, or the occasional House Elf who was holding down the fort while the shift manager was away.

However all though there were many different stands to choose from, Harry got the feeling it would be quicker to apparate almost anywhere else in the world to get your food as the lines were tremendously long and by the time he, Ron and Hermione had sat down to eat, Harry wasn't even hungry anymore. He ate anyways however, mostly out of principle and partially because he knew that he'd be hungry later if he didn't eat now.

"So what did you think of Professor Rickman's class?" Hermione asked, looking curiously at Harry.

"It was okay." Harry replied. "It was just the first day so we didn't really do anything. I guess the professor seemed pretty cool though." He finished forcing down a slice of pizza. Harry glanced over at Ron.

"So when do Quidditch tryouts start?" He asked, looking as Ron devoured a chicken sandwich. Ron looked up with his mouthful and spilled crumbs as he talked. Hermione looked at him annoyed.

"Sometime next week I think. I'm not sure exactly how we go about signing up. Apparently we need to get in touch with one of the captains. I heard that there are six teams though, and there are always vacancies on the bench and on the field due to students dropping out or graduating."

"So you nervous at all?" Harry asked, remembering Ron's greatest problem in Quidditch was how nervous he got being in front of large crowds.

"Not anymore. I think I've gotten over my fear of large crowds. We're going to run this place mate."

"Absolutely!" Harry said as he and Ron slapped each other five.

"And as long as the crowd doesn't turn into spiders, we'll have the best Keeper out there." Harry joked.

Ron looked horrified, the color had drained from his face and he slowed down chewing, exposing a mouthful of have chewed chicken. "Why would you say something like that?" Ron asked squeakily, swallowing slowly and looking at Harry.

Harry and Hermione laughed.

After lunch Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way out of the cafeteria and headed towards the courtyard. The dragon courtyard, was a large open area with a grand fountain in the center. The fountain, which depicted a large Hungarian Horntail crouching low with its mouth wide open as though it were preparing to breath fire. Instead of fire however, a trickle of water flowed from its mouth into the fountains large granite based. The statue was enchanted however, so that every now and then the statue would break the monotonous trickle by rearing back its head and spraying massive amounts of water into the bowl. On either side of the fountain statue were large circular platforms raised slightly above the ground around them and which each depicted various dragons locked in a duel. All around the edges of the courtyard there were white stone benches with people resting on them and chatting about the day's events. The trio was amazed to find how many people gathered outside for the first day of dueling club. The benches were all full and people were gathering around the two platforms.

By the dragon statue was a small brown desk behind which sat a young wizard dark haired with glasses. The wizard seemed to be taking down the names of people who were interested joining the club. Harry couldn't help but feel that he looked somewhat nerdy, as he was extremely skinny and talked with a slight lisp. Harry, Ron and Hermione walked over and stood in line. A few spots ahead of them Harry noticed Draco Malfoy standing beside a girl Harry remembered from Hogwarts, Daphne Greengrass, a girl who'd been a part of Pansy Parkinson's gang of Slytherin girls.

Harry waited impatiently as the line slowly moved and finally it was his turn.

"Name?" The wizard asked.

"Harry Potter." Replied Harry.

"Harry Po... Harry Potter?" The wizard looked up. There were whispers in the line as people realized overheard this. The young wizard behind the desk stared at Harry for a moment. "Well, it looks like its going to be an interesting crowd this year." He held out his hand to Harry and Harry took it. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Potter, truly a pleasure."

Harry stepped out of line and waited for Ron and Hermione to finish signing up before traveling to a spot by the circular platform where people appeared to be congregating. He tried not to blush or notice the whispers that had gone up but couldn't help but overhear them occasionally.

"So what do you think this guy Tyler looks like?" Ron asked, finally after the commotion had settled down a bit and people started gathering around.

"Nobody knows." A student standing behind them and that Harry recognized as a fellow Freshman answered. "But they say that he doesn't eat or sleep, and that one time he killed a guy for blinking."

"I heard that he wrestles dragons and that that's why we meet in this courtyard." Another student claimed.

"I heard that he's a vampire, and that he eats the people that lose their duels." Another student joked.

"You said no one's seen him, but isn't he about to give a speech... in the middle of the day time, like he does every year?" Hermione asked annoyed, clearly not catching the humor in the student's voice.

"Whoever he is. He's truly a great man." The first student said.

As though to answer the confusion a man in his early twenties jumped up onto the platform as though it were a stage and made his way to the center. He wasn't extremely tall, only a few inches taller than Hermione he suspected and he didn't look incredibly intimidating either. He had medium length dirty blonde hair that framed his head in such a way that made Harry suspect he was in an indie band of some sort. As clothes he wore black jeans, a red leather jacket and a black shirt that had the words Lynyrd Skynyrd written upon it and the picture of a band. On his face he wore a pair of little girl's costume sunshades which were pink and had little wings coming off the top of them. Harry couldn't help but notice the contrast that those glasses had. In addition, he wore a friendly smile on his face that Harry couldn't help but feel was genuine.

He crouched low as he waited for the crowd to get silent and played with a dark gray top hat that he was holding in his left hand. Harry couldn't help but think that the odd appearance was more on purpose than on accident as most wizard's dressed. He looked around at everyone in the crowd and as his eyes fell upon them, they grew silent in quiet expectancy. Harry started to wonder what words he could say to match with the legend and presence that this young wizard had made for himself. And once the crowd was finally silent, he was swiftly answered.

"Sup." He said, quickly and casually as though greeting a friend. The crowd just sat there confused. A few older members on the other side of the stage answered aloud.

"Whats up Tyler?" They answered as though they were a praise chorus. Harry noticed Ryan among these members, a large smile playing across his lips as it was with all the other members he was with.

"Alright. I'm Tyler Sowards." The wizard on the stage said bowing gently. "And welcome to my dueling club. Now I say my dueling club as though I started it, so more properly it would be Albus's dueling club. But in order to eliminate confusion when I throw your sorry butts out," there was laughter from the older students. "Its my dueling club." Tyler walked around the stage in a small circle with his hands out like an airplane and then tossed his hat to the side of the stage, before speaking again. "Alright. So... The rules of this dueling club are pretty simple we don't deviate much at least in our rules from classical dueling. Every duel will be held between two duelists unless its a special event of some sort and will consist of one rule. I'm assuming you've all been taught to duel at some point so I won't bother going over etiquette at all but we do practice it here." Tyler's voice trailed off as though he were trying to remember something. "Oh yeah, right. Today is special because we're just meeting to go over the rules but, normally if its your first time at Dueling Club, you must duel. In fact everyone who signed up will duel once every two weeks while we try and figure out who's going to make the team that we send to the PDL."

Tyler looked at the group of students standing in the corner as though he were trying to remember something.

"Oh yeah. All members who are underage must have a signed permission form, from your parents! We don't want any complaining or annoying faculty interventions. We take our dueling seriously here."  
There was some chuckling from the older students at this and even Tyler himself stopped and laughed.

"Alright well, that's pretty much all that we've got on the agenda for today. Before we disperse however, I always duel one person to start out the year, kind of a kick off duel. Is there anyone here you'd like to see duel?" Tyler asked looking around at the crowd.

Everyone in the crowd appeared to nervous to be the first on stage, they all whispered among themselves some of them jokingly volunteering someone else but no one stepping up to the stage. Tyler jumped up and down on stage as he waited.

"Come on anyone?" He asked.

The nerdy wizard that Harry remembered had been taking names yelled through cupped hands at Tyler from the sidelines. "Harry Potter's here this year somewhere!"

Tyler looked at him slightly surprised. "Harry Potter. Yeah but we don't let first years duel in the opening duel anymore, not after that guy got hurt two years ago." He said a slightly disappointed look on his face.

The crowd however had overheard this conversation.

"Lets see Harry Potter duel!"

"Yeah, lets see the one who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Harry! Harry!" The crowd began to chant.

Harry slightly embarrassed tried to duck. Ron nudged him in the side. "You should do it mate, come on go on up there."

"But you heard him first years aren't allowed to duel." Harry whispered trying not to stand out.

Tyler walked over to the side of the stage and started talking towards the other students.

"Alright if Harry Potter's here, we'll let him duel." Tyler shouted at the crowd.

"Oh go on Harry." Hermione said nudging him in the side. "It'll be fun."

Harry gave up, his friends were pushing him to duel and the crowd appeared to be getting restless. He took out his wand and stepped onto the stage. As soon as he did the crowd cheered and hollered their approval.

"Hey Tyler." Ryan called from the side. Tyler turned and walked over towards the sidelines and knelt down. Harry couldn't hear what they were saying but he was made slightly uncomfortable when he noticed Ryan glancing at him during the conversation. A moment later Tyler walked away nodding.

"Well since we're already breaking tradition this year we might as well make it a full on special event. I know that most of you wanted to see me duel but our big up and comer last year has actually asked me if he can duel instead. So Harry, its up to you. Will you accept this challenge?" Tyler asked the question extremely dramatically looking at the crowd as he did so and not at Harry.

"Sure. Can't be worse than Voldemort."

"Woah. Did you hear that ladies and gentleman. The man has no fear at all, even speaking the You-Know-Who's name like its nothing. I think someone's in for it in this duel." Tyler said jokingly.

Ryan hopped onto the stage and walked towards Tyler. For a moment the two greeted each other jokingly and then Tyler headed to the center of the stage.

"Looks like I get to ref this one then!" He shouted. "Alright then, if the duelist's would please bow to each other.

"So Harry, have you ever done this before!?" Ryan joked from the opposite end of the stage bowing lightly as he spoke. Harry noticed he didn't have his wand in his hand as he bowed.

"Of course he has!" Shouted someone from the stands. Harry looked over to see Ron.

Harry gripped his wand tightly as he bowed.

"A few times." He answered jokingly. "Yourself?"

Ryan nodded his head side to side and made a face as though he were unsure of his answer. "Once or twice I guess."

"Shouldn't you go ahead and draw your wand then?"

"If I did that your first spell would be just be Expelliarmus."

Harry was slightly confused by this, he had been planning to disarm his opponent, but without his wand, there was no reason to even be afraid of him. Still Harry figured he should try and end it quick, just in case his opponent had something up his sleeve.

As the duelists finished bowing Tyler raised his hands and took a step backwards. "When you're ready?" He began, looking to Harry.

Harry nodded and then glanced at Ryan, he held out his wand and pointed it towards the wizard preparing for his first spell. Ryan's hands were still in his pockets as though he were casually meeting a friend.

Harry felt bad about using any dangerous spells against an unarmed opponent. But at the same time he needed a spell that was effective enough to end a duel. He decided his opening spell wouldn't be anything extremely dangerous or lethal. Finally he settled on Stupefy, he'd use the stunning spell as his opening move. Ryan looked for a moment as though he were thinking about something hard while he stared at Harry, then he turned slightly to Tyler and nodded.

"Then begin!" Tyler said dropping his hands and stepping to the edge of the arena.

"Stupefy!"

"Protego!"

Ryan's right hand rushed forward before the sparks had completely left Harry's wand. His spell sprayed against Ryan's protection spell. A split-second later there was a shattering like glass as Ryan's spell shattered and he was knocked back a few yards by Harry's spell. Ryan dropped to one knee panting, a small smile played across his lips.

Ryan's shield charm had managed to reduce the effect of the stunning charm to the point where it wasn't enough to knock him out, Harry was actually surprised that he'd managed to get such a powerful shield spell up without a wand, it was perfectly timed as though he'd known ahead of time that Harry was going to use a stunning charm.

"Lucky guess!" Harry shouted, "What if I hadn't used an attack spell, your defense wouldn't have worked!"

Ryan smiled. "Yeah, but first years always use offensive spells as their opener its kind of a rule of thumb."

Harry wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not, but he didn't care either way. His last spell had hit even if just barely, there's no way Ryan would be able to stop another one.

"Accio wand!" Ryan shouted almost as though in reponse to Harry's thoughts. A wand flew up from a bag on the sidelines and into his hands. Harry only got a passing glance at it, but it appeared to be very similar in design to Hermione's, a wand Harry was intimately familiar with.

"Stupefy!" Harry shouted again, quickly when he first saw the wand move. Harry's spell flew from his wand, but before it had even left Harry saw the wizard apparate. Almost that very same instant Harry felt the breath leave his lungs as Ryan's knee collided with his chest. It hadn't been smooth, it had been no grand martial arts move. He'd simply apparated inside of Harry's reach and kneed him in the stomach. Ryan held his head for a moment trying to regain his composure as Harry stumbled backwards.

"Accio glasses!" Ryan shouted as Harry gasped for air. Harry's glasses flew off of his face and into Ryan's hands. Ryan slipped them on and began running around in circles as Harry regained his composure.

"Look everyone! I'm Harry Potter!" He shouted. The crowd laughed as he pranced around the stage with his hands out, wand gripped tightly.

Hermione and Ron sat on the sidelines holding hands. Hermione squeezed Ron's hand tightly as Harry began to recover. "This duel's just mean. He's not even taking it seriously." She hissed.

"This is no duel." Malfoy spoke from behind them. Hermione looked back to see Malfoy standing there with a disgusted look on his face. He was clinching his fist tightly and staring with a strong dislike at Ryan. Hermione wasn't sure if it was out of respect or just some desire for revenge, but she got the distinct feeling that Malfoy wanted Harry to win this duel. Malfoy's lips parted only slightly as he began to speak again. "This is a public humiliation."

Harry regained his breath and realized that the duel was not going his way. He could barely see his opponent at all but he was able to make out his position well enough for his next charm. _So much for taking it seriously._ Harry thought to himself.However now his opponent had his wand out, if Harry could get rid of that, there would be no more surprises.

"Stupefy!" Harry shouted. The charm was off its mark but Harry hadn't meant to hit anyways, his goal was met Ryan had stopped dancing as soon as Harry had moved and quickly and rolled out of the way. "Accio glasses!" Harry shouted as his opponent was dodging. His glasses flew back to his eyes and he was able to see clearly now.

"Expelliarmus!" He shouted raising his wand from the ground and aiming it at Ryan's wand hand. The jet of red burst forward from Harry's wand. However as soon he'd moved Ryan turned around swung his wand arm forward.

"Reverserio!" He shouted.

In a flash the jet flew back at Harry's hand and his wand flew out of it. Ryan reached up caught it, then holding both the wands between his fingers so that his palms were exposed he moved into a position with cuffed hands beside him. Suddenly Ryan's eyes narrowed and he reared back in a position that Harry had never seen before.

"Ka... me..." Ryan began his eyes narrowing.

Harry knew that he'd already lost the duel but what was Ryan doing.

"Ha... me..." Ryan continued. Harry wasn't sure what to expect. Suddenly Ryan stood up straight.

"Just kidding. That doesn't actually work." He smiled. Then in a flash his arm shot out. "Stupefy." He shouted. The red jet shot forward and smacked into Harry sending him spiraling through the air. Harry smacked the stage and slid across its surface until only half his body remained on the stage. He felt as though he were about to pass out.

Harry blinked and looked up. Ryan was kneeling beside him and he put his glasses and wand down on the ground.

"Sorry about that Harry. You might have been someone back at Hogwarts, but here you're just a freshman among the best wizards from all over the world. Every one of which earned the right to be here." He said the last part somewhat condescendingly.

Ryan stood up and walked off the stage, as Harry began to lose consciousness. The last thing Harry remembered was seeing Tyler slip his top hat on and shout somewhat hilariously that the duel was over.

No one had truly needed that decision. To Harry it was painfully obvious who had won the duel. And Harry had lost.


	4. Chapter 4: Alley Girl

Unfortunately I am now editor-less. I've been waiting for sometime for a friend of mine to work out but it hasn't, it may take a week or two following this chapter to get the next one up. By the way, usually when I write I'm listening to music so if you guys want mood music I'll start posting what it is I'm listening to when I'm writing these chapters as they pretty much guide what I write.

Music: Are You Gonna Be My Girl, She's a Genius -Jet

Chapter 4

Alley Girl

The student dorm that Harry and Ron were staying at was known as the Collins building. It was a large white building which rose four stories off the ground. Two gargoyle's with menacing faces protruded from the wall at the front of the building and reached downwards toward the door as though they were ready to spring to life and grab any intruders who might come along uninvited. A stone awning lingered above the porch supported by two columns whose architecture matched that of the Greek Parthenon. In evenly spaced out rows along the straight path connecting the Collins building with the sidewalk, large gray statues made to resemble a pawn from wizard's chess stood watch over the path, their arms by their sides as though they waited.

Angelina Johnson stood underneath the awning that was hanging over the porch of the student dormitories. Her hair was soaked and it stuck to the sides of her face as she rang the buzzer for room number thirteen.

Room number thirteen was a small two bedroom dorm which had exactly one bathroom and exactly one window to the outside. The walls which changed colors magically in attempts to match whatever tastes its occupants happen to have. For their current occupants the room had taken on a sports theme; posters of famous Quidditch players hung above the beds upon garnet walls.

On one of the bed's Harry was leaning against the wall with a copy of Expert Potions in his lap. His arm and back were scraped from sliding across the platform the day before, his entire body ached. It was his pride that was hurting the most right now however. Harry had only slept a few hours, tossing and turning angrily in his bed whilst cursing himself for his own hastiness and Ryan for his arrogance. When it was obvious that he wasn't going to get anymore sleep he decided to get up and read over his potions book for the next week's assignment. He hadn't gotten much reading done however, as his mind kept wandering to thoughts of revenge and public humiliation.

As the buzzer rang Harry looked up from his copy of Expert Potions and squinted. He walked over to the door and looked through the small glass peephole. The peepholes in the student dorms were enchanted with a special magic that connected them to the peephole located by the front awning whenever their room was buzzed. So upon glancing through the peephole Harry's eyes went wide as he saw Angelina Johnson standing on the other side. Harry glanced over to Ron who was still asleep in his bed. Harry considered waking Ron but instead he just through on a white shirt that was lying on the floor next to his bed and ran downstairs, trying to pat his hair down to no avail as he ran.

Harry's room was the second door on the left of the second floor, so it didn't take him long to get to the large wooden door that led to the outside. Harry tapped it with his wand once, and the door began to open. When it finished Harry stood facing a twenty year old Angelina Johnson. Angelina hadn't changed much since Hogwarts. She stood facing him with her hands on her hips in much the same way he remembered her. After a moment's pause during which Harry was afraid she might be angry at him over something her annoyed look turned to a small smirk.

"So it's true then. You did come to Grindelwald!" She shouted running forward and throwing her arms around Harry. Harry was so surprised that he almost fell over.

"Yeah. Its true." Harry replied. His body ached from the wounds he'd received the previous day as she embraced him. Not that he wasn't happy to see her, but Harry wondered why exactly Angelina had showed up on his doorstep before noon on a Saturday. Angelina didn't seem to be volunteering any information however and Harry realized a moment later that they were still standing outside in the rain.

"Oh, I forgot we should probably move this conversation to some place less wet." Harry suggested holding his hand out for Angelina to enter. After they entered Harry led Angelina up the stairs to the dorm that he and Ron were staying in.

"Wait here a second." Harry said as they arrived outside the room. He wasn't sure if Ron was awake yet, and Harry couldn't be completely sure that Ron was fully dressed. He cracked open the door and peered inside. As he suspected Ron was still passed out on his bed. Harry opened the door and slid inside signaling for Angelina to wait for him.

"Ron are you dressed?" Harry asked.

Ron simply groaned in response and rolled over, covering his head up with his pillow as he did so. Harry stood for a moment unsure whether or not he should invite Angelina. Finally he decided he'd be polite and so he opened the door and invited her in.

"Uh. Not to be rude Angelina, but why exactly are you here?" Harry asked, once they'd both moved into the room and taken seats, Harry on his bed and Angelina in a desk chair. Angelina glanced around at the messy room and then looked to Harry.

"Harry!" Angelina said looking at him. "I don't know if you heard already but the Otarion Phoenixes are looking for a Seeker."

Harry's eyes widened slightly at the sound of an open position, however his expression quickly shifted to confusion. "Otarian Phoenixes?" Harry asked.

Angelina looked at him slightly disappointed. "It's one of Grindelwald's quidditch teams... surely Ron told you?" Harry shook his head in confusion. "It's the team that I happen to be captain of..." Angelina continued, sounding slightly disappointed that Harry hadn't known the team immediately.

"Oh!" Harry said smirking slightly.

"Yep!" Angelina reiterated. "There's a spot open on the team, Ron suggested your name so I talked it over with the team and we want you to fill it."

Harry almost leaped to his feet upon hearing that. After the previous day's embarrassment he could use some cheering up and this just happened to be the perfect thing.

"Wait Ron suggested?" Harry asked, diverting his gaze slightly to where Ron lay with a pillow stuffed over his head.

"Yeah." Angelina responded. "Ron's the team's Keeper. Honestly I would've thought that he'd told you right away."

Harry glanced curiously over at the sleeping Ron for a moment and then turned back to Angelina. "So when does practice start?" Harry asked.

"That's actually why I'm here." Angelina responded. "Practice starts today, the team will be meeting on the field in half an hour."

"Great, just let me grab my broom" Harry responded hastily, rising from his bed as he did so. As he moved his ribs ached and he remembered the duel from the day before. His anger flared up for a moment as he pulled out a long wooden trunk from under his bed. He still couldn't believe he'd lost to that prick.

_ Here you're just a freshman._

The words echoed through Harry's mind. It wasn't so much that being a freshman was a bad thing, nor was it the worst insult he'd ever heard. It was how Ryan had said it, like he was worthless... like he was childish or inexperienced. Harry tried to shake the thoughts from his head as he popped open the thunk.

Inside the trunk Harry's broom lay on its side. His heart sank slightly as the Nimbus 2000 stared back at him. Staring at that broom Harry couldn't help but miss his Firebolt. Harry's Firebolt had been purchased for him in his third year by his godfather Sirius Black. It had been the very first thing that Sirius had ever given him. Last year however Harry's Firebolt had gotten lost during The Battle Over Little Whinging. When he'd returned to Diagon Alley to buy a broom the first thing he'd attempted to purchase had been a new Firebolt, but unfortunately it was well out of his price range. It wasn't that he couldn't afford it, it was just that it would've required him to spend most of the money left to him by his parents, the money that he'd been saving for a house, so instead he'd decided on buying a Nimbus 2000. It was the second fastest model they had, and it was much cheaper.

After he'd grabbed his broom Harry walked over to Ron's bed. "Shouldn't you be getting up for quidditch practice?"

Ron held his hand up. "Yeah... I'll be there in a few minutes." Harry shrugged and turned to Angelina. "I guess we should go then."

Once outside they mounted their brooms and Harry followed Angelina down to the Grindelwald quidditch pitch. The Grindelwald Quidditch pitch was located inside of a large Colosseum. At the north, east, south and west sides of the Colosseum towers rose high into the air allowing those who desired it a bird's eye view of the game. The Colosseum was located outside the west entrance to Grindelwald's campus. Although it was still part of the campus grounds its location caused it to be the prime location for students looking to get away from dorm life. However on weekends the pitch was closed to students not associated with one of the six teams. This made scheduling practices interesting, Angelina explained to Harry along the way, because it meant that if any of the six teams wanted to practice privately they could do so only twice a week.

Angelina and Harry arrived on the Quidditch Pitch to find that there were already four students there waiting for them. All of the students seemed to be gathered around a single issue of the Daily Prophet, when they'd landed one of the students, a girl spotted them immediately and ran towards them.

"Oh Angelina its horrible!" She cried as she stopped in front of the captain.

"What's happened?" Angelina asked, the color draining for her face as she stared at the rest of the team, all of whom had looked up at her arrival except one who was still reading the prophet carefully.

"Aderhold?" Angelina spoke the name as though she were expecting an answer. As though in response the boy holding the prophet rolled it up and tossed it to her. As she began to read over the paper Harry took notice of the team.

The first person Harry noticed was the girl who'd run towards Angelina crying. She was a rather short Asian girl who had a rather tiny head with medium length black hair that hung just above her shoulders. She was holding glasses in her left hand and wiping tears from her eyes with her right.

The next person Harry noticed was a fairly attractive German blonde who had her hair pulled back into a bun. Harry noticed her first out of the players standing together because of how incredibly tall she was. She was almost as tall as himself and he'd always been considered rather tall. She had medium proportions and she was exceptionally pale with eyes that were either a shade of green or blue, Harry couldn't exactly tell.

The next person Harry saw was a rather large boy that reminded him somewhat of a larger Neville. The boy was tall, though not quite as tall as he was, and big. He had rather large arms and a round gut. He had short blonde hair which covered his bluish green eyes.

Finally Harry came to the last person, the boy Angelina had called Aderhold. He was a good bit shorter than Harry and Angelina and slightly shorter than the other boy. He had medium length dark hair that appeared somewhat ruffled as though he hadn't brushed it since waking up and a somewhat loosely shaved beard.

They were all wearing normal clothes for practice which suddenly reminded Harry that he did not yet know the team's colors.

Harry would later learn their names and positions. The Chasers were Angelina Johnson, Savannah Stankovic the tall blonde, and Demi Dobson the tiny Asian girl. The beaters were Charles "Bubba" Bennett the large man, and Eric Aderhold the boy who'd been reading the prophet.

After a moment Angelina dropped the paper. Harry looked down on the ground to see a young girl smiling up at him from a black and white obituary.

Harry knelt down and picked up the paper, reading over the article.

The girl Marietta Pryce, was twenty-two. She didn't have any enemies and was well liked according to the article. She was popular as one of Grindelwald's VIP students and quidditch players. Apparently her family was rather rich and her father had dedicated a wing to Grindelwald when they'd admitted his daughter. The girl, Harry continued reading, had been found lying dead in an alleyway late last night. The ministry was still investigating the exact cause of death, witnesses however recalled shouting and a flash of green light before witnessing an assailant fleeing the scene. Harry stared in horror at the paper for a moment. Green light and shouting... it may be happenstance to Muggles but Harry knew exactly what that meant.

He dropped the paper and immediately felt a chill. "Who was she?" He asked solemnly.

"She was our last Keeper. Quidditch players are only allowed to play for four years at Grindelwald. Ron was her replacement." Angelina replied.

"What's going on?" Ron's voice called from behind.

Harry turned around and looked at Ron. The boy's red hair was slightly unkempt as though he'd woken up and flown straight to the pitch. The team's grim faces made him feel uncomfortable and he looked at Harry for some support.

Angelina was the first to speak. Turning so that she could speak to everyone at once she began. "Alright well the wake is going to be tomorrow, so I'm canceling tomorrow's practice session. We'll try to get in what we can today and hopefully we'll make up for it next week." She said trying to lighten the mood with her voice.

Ron stepped beside Harry and gulped as he heard the words. "Wake?" He whispered in Harry's ear. Harry handed him the paper. Ron read the paper as they moved towards the center of the field to begin practice.

The Quidditch practice was short. No one was particularly in the mood for practice and that became painfully obvious right away. Harry didn't particularly feel like chasing after the snitch and so he feigned interest and would only chase after it whenever he felt Angelina watching him. Ron was slightly down but as he hadn't particularly known the girl who'd died he found it easy to block the empty shots from his teammates. The practice really fell apart when the team's beaters Bubba and Eric started taking their anger out on a poor bludger, knocking it back and forth between them until Harry wondered if it was even aware anymore.

Angelina called practice early and told everyone to go home.

"Sorry about that." She told Ron and Harry after the team had begun to disperse. "Today just wasn't a good day for practice I suppose." With that she left, and Harry and Ron were the only two remaining on the pitch.

"So... that was depressing." Ron said as Angelina left and he and Harry were alone.

"Yeah", Harry responded, thinking about the girl's picture and the events surrounding the death. _Witnesses however recalled shouting and flash of green light._

The line stood out in Harry's mind. He was still mulling over it when Ron next spoke.

"So what are you doing later today?" He asked staring off the field.

"Uh... well I was planning to hit the showers but after that nothing I guess." Harry responded snapping out of his trance. "What about you?"

"Well I promised Hermione that I'd meet up with her after Quidditch practice. She probably just wants someone to help her study or something I don't know." Ron shrugged as he mounted his broomstick. "Anyways... I'll see you later." And with that he was gone and Harry was left alone on the Quidditch field.

Harry grabbed his broomstick and made his way to the showers after realizing he hadn't washed up since the day before. The men's showers were located inside the stadium. Upon reaching them Harry walked inside not paying much attention to his surroundings. Harry walked into the shower room and saw a row of lockers in front of him. As he made his way around them and looked towards the shower room he saw a girl standing in the showers looking back at him. Harry ducked quickly behind the lockers.

"Oh don't mind me." The girl called towards him.

"So... sorry!" Harry replied embarrassed. "I must have entered the wrong room. I..."

Harry heard the water turn off behind him.

"No the women's showers were out so I decided to use these! I didn't think anyone else was here!" The girl called back.

Harry's back was to the locker's when the girl walked up to him in a towel. Harry saw her walk up beside him.

"Wha... what are you?" He stuttered, looking away.

"My clothes." She pointed past him towards a pile of clothes that were lying on one of the benches he was blocking.

"Oh." Harry replied shifting so that she could get by. She made her way to the pile of clothes and dropped her towel. Harry who had been expecting her to grab them and move out of eyesight was startled and turned away quickly.

"Um... nice weather." He said casually trying to change the subject.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Nothing..." He answered. He wondered why he was so nervous. Its not like he'd done anything wrong, it wasn't his fault a pretty girl happened to be in the men's showers. Wait had he just called her pretty? That was beside the point, she shouldn't be in...

A moment later he felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned around he noticed that the girl was dressed. She was extremely attractive with light blue eyes and long raven black hair that was still wet from showering. Her She had a slightly curved nose and large dimples that accompanied her current smile. The girl wore a purple skirt and black t-shirt with the phrase, "More Magical than a Muggle", displayed in white lettering around it. He could tell she was older than he was. She turned her head slightly after getting a good luck at Harry and then pointed her finger.

"Hey you're Harry Potter, you were the one who dueled with Ryan the other day?" She stated as the realization struck her.

"Yeah..." Harry responded, once again growing angry at the name.

The girl giggled slightly as she made her way past him. "That's so sad." She said the words as though Harry's dog had just died.

As she put her hand on the door she turned around to look at Harry. "Its too bad you can't duel. You really are quite cute." As soon as she finished the sentence she exited the room and Harry heard the door slam shut loudly.

He stood staring at where she'd been in utter confusion for a few minutes. Turning slightly he noticed she'd left a clothes bag and pair of leopard underwear on the bench behind him.

_Wha... What just happened?_ He wondered.


	5. Chapter 5: Devil's Revelation

Hey guys its the newest update, sorry it took a little while but here it is. The next chapter might take a few weeks as the semester is almost up and finals are going to be coming up soon. I do have a new editor though, a friend of mine who writes Fan Fic. Music: Black Holes and Revelations.

Chapter 5

Devil's Revelation

It was Monday and Harry was standing in the hall outside of Legendary Spells and Curses talking to Hermione. Although it was pretty early in the morning Harry was feeling extremely aware. The bruises from Friday's duel were now gone and he was still excited from Sunday's Quidditch practice.

Across the way he saw the witch from two days prior talking to a group of students, one of whom Harry recognized as Ryan. As soon as she noticed him she walked over.

"Um, this is going to sound weird, but I think I left my bag and some underwear in the showers the other day. You didn't happen to grab it did you?"

Harry shook his head. "No, but I think they're still down there."

"Oh... are you sure? My underwear were leopard print and the bag was..." She began to make dimensions in the air.

"I'm sure." Harry responded quickly.

"Oh well." She shrugged and then she turned and headed back to her group of friends.

Hermione glanced at Harry. "The showers? Underwear?" She stared at him in slight astonishment.

"Long story..." Harry replied.

When the witch returned Ryan was staring at her with a look of partial disbelief on his face.

"What?" She asked feigning confusion.

He grabbed her left arm and pulled her away from the group.

"Ouch." She said looking at her arm innocently after they were out of ear shot.

"Don't you what me!" Ryan replied. "Leopard underwear?"

"What's wrong?" She asked, with a look of innocence on her face.

"You..." He began blushing slightly. "Those things are like a freaking welcome mat." He retorted hastily barely moving his lips like he was trying to keep a secret. "The next thing you'll say is that it was only an innocent shower."

"It was." She replied cutely.

"You were in the shower with him!?" Ryan replied a mixture of shock, anger, and hurt.

"Why Ryan... you're acting like a jealous boyfriend." She accused calmly.

"I am not a..." He began by yelling but then dropped his voice. "I'm not a jealous boyfriend."

"I said you're acting like one."

Ryan took a deep breath and began backing up clenching his textbook tightly in his left hand. "You're right. Sorry." He began as he backed up. "Its none of my business. I'll just be going." He pointed towards the class and then started to turn around. A moment later there was a loud bang as Ryan's textbook smacked the ground shortly followed by Ryan and Spencer. Spencer who'd been kneeling over to pick up a book hadn't seen him coming and the two boys had collided.

The entire hall exploded into laughter, Harry and Hermione included. Ryan lay flat on the ground for a moment as the laughter rang out. A moment later he busted out laughing as well.

Ryan rolled to his feet and looked at Spencer who was frantically grabbing his books. His hair was messed up and he was mumbling to himself. Ryan walked over and picked up one of his books and held it out to him.

"Hey man, you alright?" He asked.

"Uh... yeah." Spencer replied looking back angry and slightly confused.

The two boys stood up and Ryan noticed a large gash on Spencer's shoulder. Ryan looked at the floor and noticed a small amount of blood.

"Hey man you should get that checked out." He said motioning towards the wound with his hand.

"No it's fine, it must have reopened when you ran into me." He murmured.

"Seriously it looks a little red. The nurse here is excellent she can probably have that taken care of in no time. I'll cover for you with Rickman."

Spencer looked down at his arm for a second.

"Alright." He replied.

* * *

Harry sat in the auditorium tapping his wand absentmindedly against his books. He looked around the room impatiently as they waited for the professor to arrive. Everywhere in the room students were talking and passing the time with odd activities, everyone except for Hermione who sat with her face stuffed in a book.

Harry glanced back at Ryan who was sitting with his feet on a chair at the back of the room laughing with the young raven-haired witch. She was hunched up on the desk with her knees pulled up giggling at something. Harry still couldn't help but notice how attractive she was.

Just then the professor walked in and slammed a book down on the table. Everyone in the room grew silent and jumped into nearby seats. Harry turned around to face the center of the room.

"Hello class and welcome back to Legendary Spells and Curses. I trust you all had an interesting break." Professor Rickman began, "Anyone else wake up this morning and realize they were still drunk and yet strangely hung-over?" He asked looking around at all the returning students. "Nope? Guess that was just me then."

The ragged teacher made his way to the center of the room carrying a book in his right hand, he sat on top of his desk and began to flip through the book, as he did so he spoke aloud to the class. "Can anyone here name the Unforgivable Curses, tell me what they do and tell me why they are called Unforgivable?" He asked as he came to a stop in his book and looked up at the class.

Everything had gone quiet. People were whispering amongst themselves and Harry thought he saw some of the students glance at him. When no one answered Harry raised his hand. From behind him he heard a shuffling and he glanced back. The attractive girl who was sitting next to Ryan was leaning forward on her desk. Her chin rested on her hands as she stared at Harry.

"Mr. Potter." Professor Rickman called out.

Harry turned around in his desk and began to speak. "Um there's the Imperius Curse which controls people, the Cruciatus Curse which tortures people, and the Killing Curse which um, kills people sir."

The professor's head bobbed back and forth as though he weren't sure he should agree. "And they are called Unforgivable because?"

Harry's voice dropped a little bit.

"Because what they do is unforgivable..."

There was a giggling from behind Harry and he turned around to see the attractive witch was trying to stop herself from laughing. Harry couldn't help but blush as he looked at Hermione who was also slightly embarrassed.

"What's so funny!?" Harry asked turning back to the girl behind him.

"Oh Harry, it was a good attempt." Hermione said, trying to make him feel better. But Harry was already ignoring her. He looked angrily at the girl who giggled at the back of the room.

"Oh calm down hun, I just thought your answer was a little funny."

"What's funny about it?" Harry asked, by this time he noticed Ryan was sitting up in his chair paying attention to the girl next to him and Harry, as though this conflict had somehow provoked an interest that the class had been previously unable to do.

"'Because what they do is unforgivable', that's very subjective don't you think. I mean some people might think that a love spell or a memory charm are unforgivable but we don't give this title to them. For that matter, wouldn't it be forgivable if an auror used the killing curse in self defense."

Harry couldn't help but see her point on this matter and it occurred to him that he really had never researched why they were called the unforgivable curses he'd just always heard them referred to as such.

"Miss D'Amico would you like to answer the question?" The professor asked.

The girl smiled. "There are five unforgivable curses, the last two aren't taught in regular Wizarding schools because of their graphic nature. Harry got the first three correct, the fourth one is Aciveria, the Slow Death, which slowly turns the subjects blood into acid, hollowing them from the inside out, and the last one is Dementoria, the Soul Ripper's curse, which creates an effect similar to the Dementor's Kiss."

"Very good, and they are called Unforgivable because?"

"Of the negative energy that builds up in the subjects body after casting one of these spells."

"Precisely, and what does Negative energy do?"

This time it was Hermione who spoke up. "Negative energy is the energy that results from someone casting a truly horrible spell. It's like a drug and once it enters the body it stays around for years influencing a person's actions and memories of specific events. Negative energy prevents a person from feeling remorse or even regret."

The professor seemed to be ecstatic at this point, two students had stepped up.

"And since the subject never seeks forgiveness for his actions, it can't be granted." Ryan interjected calmly.

"How was I supposed to know that?" Harry whispered to Hermione. She looked at him apologetically.

"You weren't." Ryan smirked leaning forward in his chair his position matching the girl's next to him, a hungry look in his eyes. "If you recall, that question was on the entrance exam for this school. See to get into this school, you have to get at least fifty percent on that test. Half of the knowledge is taken from ordinary wizarding schools. The teachers themselves design the other half. That question isn't something you learn at the ordinary wizarding level. Because of this there are only four wizards in the entire history of this school that have achieved perfect scores on this exam. The first was Albus Dumbledore, the second was a wizard named Tom Riddle, and the third and fourth are sitting next to us." Ryan sat back in his chair properly. "Anyway... normal students wouldn't have known that answer."

Harry wondered if the normal comment had been intended for him. He turned around in his seat and looked at the professor who'd faked a cough to regain the attention of the class..

"Miss D'amico and Miss Granger were absolutely correct, the reason that the curses are called Unforgivable is indeed because of the negative energy. Negative energy itself stays in the body for around two weeks but the signs can linger anywhere from six to twelve years. Anyone with negative energy is excluded from work as a teacher, cannot work at the ministry or Gringott's. Its considered by many to be unsafe to hire anyone whose used one of these curses and most of the time, the user's end up in Azkaban as those spells are illegal."

The professor paused for a moment and his face grew grim and Harry felt as though the professor was staring directly at him.

"What happens if someone continuously casts these spells Miss D'amico?"

"Well at first negative energy will simply build up. But a person's soul can only take so much exposure. Eventually the negative energy will become too much for the person and their soul will tear. They will be unable to cast any more spells until the negative energy dissipates and they will become dark and evil in appearance. In addition they will be forever changed, different a monster inside a human shell. Someone whose soul has been torn can never truly recover. For most people this occurs after twenty uses of the Cruciatus curse, ten uses of the Imperius Curse, sixteen uses of the Slow Death, six uses of the Killing Curse and one use of the Soul-Ripping Curse." The cute witch replied.

"Voldemort was considered the most powerful wizard because according to sources he could cast the Killing Curse twelve times at least without shattering his soul." Ryan interrupted. Much of the class winced at the name, but Harry, Ryan, Hermione, Professor Rickman and Miss D'amico all maintained themselves.

"But Voldemort did shatter his soul." Harry interjected.

"What?" Ryan asked leaning forward in his seat, suddenly interested in what the young wizard had to say. "What do you mean Voldemort shattered his soul?"

Harry couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction in this turn of events. There was something he knew that Ryan and his friend didn't know.

"Voldemort's alleged immortality was due to seven horcruxes, which each had to be created by severing his soul." Harry revealed with confidence.

"That's interesting..." That hunger returned to Ryan's eyes.

"So He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Neville spoke up, "Was able to cast the Killing Curse twelve times even after splitting his soul seven times."

Ryan smirked. "Really... was there a limit to this guy's power? I guess its just lucky Harry was there to stop him."

The room grew quiet until Professor Rickman finally broke the silence.

"Can anyone tell me what happens to the victim of one of these spells?" The professor inquired.

Hermione's hand shot up, Harry slumped back in his chair, more confident but still not willing to chance it.

"Miss Granger?"

"Well, positive energy builds up in the victim, which causes the spells to grow less and less potent over time. Traces remain just as long as negative energy which is particularly useful in identifying whether or not someone was under the effects of the Imperius Curse sir." Hermione finished.

"Very good." Professor Rickman replied. "Luckily there's a very simple charm for revealing people's aura's that can be used to detect the presence of negative or positive energy. If a person's been the victim of one of these curses they're aura will take on a slightly golden hue, and if they've cast one of these spells it will be tainted."

"What do you mean by tainted?" Gordo asked curiously.

"If the person has cast one of these spells their aura will contain crackles of an electrical like nature, if the person has cast the Imperious Curse, that static will be blue, if they have cast the Cruciatus curse, it will be red, if they have cast the Killing curse it will be green, the Slow Death purple and the Soul-Ripper black. "

Harry wondered why he'd never heard any of this from Lupin or Sirius. It seemed the type of thing to tell him. He thought back to the number of times he'd used the Imperious Curse and Cruciatus Curse and wondered why the ministry hadn't commented on his aura if it contained these signs. His thoughts were interrupted when Professor Rickman pulled out his wand.

"Right it's a very useful spell if you're trying to prove someone's guilt, or if you're searching for a killer perhaps... It's called Devil's Revelation and to cast it you simply flick your wand like so and speak the words 'Ostendo Diabolus.'"

As soon as the words were uttered there were several gasps and stares in Harry's direction as he lit up like a light bulb. Harry couldn't help but notice that there were no traces of the colored lightning crackles in his aura. He wasn't quite sure why. Suddenly Hermione began to glow a light gold and it took a moment for Harry to remember that Bellatrix had tortured her. Neville was also glowing, and Harry remembered how he'd stood up to Voldemort. Harry noticed that two other students were glowing nearly as bright as himself, Ryan and the witch next to her. But everyone in the room was staring at something else now, and muttering amongst themselves. Harry knew immediately what they found so intriguing, in addition to the golden shimmer surrounding Ryan's aura, there was a small green streak of lightning slithering around like a snake.

The spell immediately dissipated a moment later but the stares did not. Ryan wasn't making eye contact with anyone, he just sat there.

"Quit staring!" The attractive witch shouted standing in front of her friend. "Put your eyes back in your head and turn around!"

Ryan held up his hand and for the first time Harry thought he was embarrassed. "Kels its okay."

"Mr. Flowers could you come with me?" Professor Rickman asked quietly.

"Yeah." Ryan replied standing up.

The witch grabbed his arm. "But they don't know why."

"It doesn't matter Kelsey. I don't care what they think." He said, walking towards the door. He stopped halfway to the door and turned around to look at her; "It'll be fine, its not like I did anything wrong."

The Professor grabbed his arm as he walked out the door.

"What do you think that was about?" Hermione asked Harry, leaning towards him.

Harry shrugged. "I dunno really. I mean, I knew he was an ass but I didn't think he'd done anything that serious."

The witch Kelsey sat at her seat scribbling something down. She tried to ignore the eyes that were now on her, but after a few moments she looked at Neville.

"What the hell are you looking at!?" She shouted.

Neville panicked and turned back to his notes. The girl put her pen away, rose from her seat and walked out of the class leaving all of her stuff behind.

Harry wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a tears in her eyes as she ran out the door and he couldn't help but feel he shared in the responsibility.


End file.
